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National Medical Logistics Newsletter |
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Dear Friends,
It used to be that many thought of September as the unofficial "restart" of the business year. With Labor Day's passing and the kids heading back off to school, it is clear that summer is over.
Increasingly, however, we're starting to think about September as "contingency month." Last week marked two important milestones in that regard. Weather Channel fans know that September 10 was the height of hurricane season. The activities of Ike, as well as all of the storms preceding him this summer, made us stop to think about how business can be interrupted by outside forces.
The other milestone that we all paused to remember was the anniversary of the tragedies associated with September 11. Nothing will define disaster for our generation like that day and the aftermath associated with those events.
We think it fitting therefore, to share some thoughts in this month's newsletter on work that we have been doing with some clients recently concerning disaster preparedness as it concerns inventory strategy. If you have a Disaster Plan, these concepts will resonate. If you don't, it's a great time to move in that direction. Contact us today to find out how we can help.
Greg Swanson & Tom Seliquini
Click here to contact us now.
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Trend Spotlight: Disaster Preparedness & Inventory Strategy
The purpose and goal of this Disaster Preparedness Inventory Strategy is to ensure critical product availability for a specified period of time when normal supply chain channels are disrupted as a result of a disaster, be it natural, accidental or criminal. The difference between success and failure in meeting this goal will largely depend on the abilities of your trading partners and how comprehensive your internal plans and communication efforts have been.
Although a disaster preparedness plan encompasses more than an inventory strategy (available by contacting NML), it is one of the most critical areas of concern.
Key concepts with regard to the Disaster Preparedness Inventory Strategy include:
- Determining the proper location(s) for redundant product storage is one of the most critical decisions impacting this protocol.
- Maintenance of this inventory includes all activities related to keeping the product rotated to keep it "fresh" and to enact measures to eliminate or reduce the opportunity for waste.
- Emergency instructions should be developed to include basic systems access to product information by personnel that are not accustomed to using it. Historical information will be used to calculate and anticipate future product needs so that disaster orders can be pre-picked and staged.
- During a disaster, inventory levels may become substantially diminished as requirements may be dramatically increased; management should anticipate this increase when calculating quantities.
- Additionally, management should consider maintaining an off site storage facility that employs established inventory stocking policies and procedures.
- There should be agreements in place with existing or new trading partners to provide product availability, allowing purchases via alternative sources on a pre-identified formulary of critical products.
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Providence Selects NML
National Medical Logistics (NML) of Richmond, Virginia has been selected by Providence Anchorage Medical Center (PAMC) in Anchorage, Alaska to assist with the implementation of a low-unit-of-measure (LUM) program. As part of this engagement, NML was asked to help ensure a timely and successful transition with their Anchorage based distributor by applying project management expertise, to help identify and remove any potential roadblocks. This included a review of internal processes, business intelligence sharing needs and distributor inventory and infrastructure preparedness.
According to Janet Say, Providence Health and Services, AK Region,
click here to read more
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